An Attempt to Measure and Model Women's Attitudes to Saving for Retirement

Abstract

Research background: Because of the convergence of demographic, political, and economic trends, retirement has become a significant stage of human life, which currently requires thoughtful and careful planning. Therefore, social pension schemes - a type of system under which the benefits are being provided - and women's individual saving decisions should give consideration to the fact that it is necessary to accumulate additional funds which should be sufficient for several decades after retirement. Purpose: Social pension schemes are widely discussed in all European countries, and in this context we can pose the following question: What is it exactly that makes women save for retirement? This paper has two objectives: to identify the factors that encourage women to save and to measure these factors and develop a model which shows correlations. Research methodology: A questionnaire survey was used for collecting the primary data. Subsequently, the analysis is based on 4 indexes created for the purposes of this paper. Then, the indexes were estimated on the basis of the unidimensional two-parameter IRT model, rho and CR coefficients, and multiple-group logistic regression analysis. Novelty: The conducted calculations lead to the conclusion that regardless of age, several factors are statistically significant for the whole analysed group, e.g. a place of residence. This is the first paper that shows determinants important for women when it comes to saving for retirement.